Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1887-08-27
PHIL BARTON'S CLAIM,

mi 3arton was big, raw-boned
man. He had a stoop to his shoulder.
and sort of chronic scowl on his face.
lie was middle-aged and unmarried,
with no very good prospect of changing
his latter condition. He was not hand.
some man and far from an even-tempered
man. In fact, he sometimes played the
well-known part Of the exceedingly dis
agreeable man from Bitter Creek
though to do him justice he had only
occasionally indulged in those little &C.
centrlcitles of character which were so
marked III the gentleman from the Creek
Only when somebody jumped his claim
then Mr.. Barton was reluctantly forced
to admit that he hailed from Bitter
Creek. Not from Bitter Creek as it is
known to ordinary people-the Bitter
Creek of the geographer-but far up
at the very head waters where the black
alkali water of Great Bitter Spring
gushcd out of the volcanic soil-where
Bitter Creek was born-that was the
humble birth place and subsequent point
of residence of the speaker, Mr. Phil
Barton. And of course it was wholly un-
cessary for him to say anything about
the fact that the residents of Bitter
Creek grew worse the higher up the
Creek you travel-this remarkable pecu
Earity of the residents was too we'll
known. But to return to Mr.. Barton's
claim-it was a lamentable fact it was
always being dumped.
"Cla-m iumpingn is light and divert
ing form Of recreation always more or
less indulged in by Dakotians in such
portions of the territory where there is
Government land open to settlement and
being settled. 1t consists of moving on
the claim of some other person who has
not yet secured title to his land from
the Government, and instituting ''con-
test" at the land Office. If the law is
allowed TO take its course and the aggres-
sive party can prove that the other has
not compiled with all the requirements
of the department Of the interior the
right to live on the claim and finally ac
quire deed to it is given him; if he can
not he has the trouble-and the costs,
which pile up TO the CONSERVATION of all
except the lawyers and doflicials-for moth
ing and the original claimant remains in
the possession of the land But when
the country is new, the land choice and
the claim-hunters numerous, the law is
not always allowed to take its course. In
fact it frequently isn't. And the sur
prising swiftness with which the unfor
tunate claim jumper is sometimes re-
moved from the land and his few effects
thrown after him is only equaled by the
astonishing manner in which this aggres-
sive parsonage will sometimes secrete
himself in his frail house and welcome
the original claimant with an old shot
gun loaded with rife balls and ten-penny
nails.
As / said before, Phil Barton's claim
was frequently jumped. Probably the
Pasiest way 10 account for this is on the
supposition that it was jumpable-if |
may re allowed the word. He didn't
comply with the law. His improvements
were not sufficient. He failed to live on
it with that regularity and persistency
which the law supposes. Not that
scarcely any one did all the law is sup
posed to expect, but the gentleman
under consideration didn't even do all
the community expected, and the result
was invariably, as he expressed it, "more
trouble bout that claim o. mine"
II thought I'd die laughin', " said
Judge Posey, of Buffalo City, as he sat in
his office. "You know was out to-day
Iocatin' that Wisconsin man. Well, l
seen Phil Barton out on his claim, in
1866, hayin' it with that Minnesota
man. Says Phil Look a-hear, ye
goggle-eyed tcnderfoot, ye've jumped
my claiml' 'Ye bet / have says the
Minnesota man, an yen find me what
they call slayer Now ye want %
giti' says Phil. CIT yerseIfl' says
Minnesota. III lick ye till ye can't
stagger alonel' says Phil. Come on
bowls Minnesota. 'One minute to leave
an take yer truckp says Phil. eYeH
find me right here in this here identical
spot a hundred years from nowp saws